Apparatus for opening multiple sheet paper articles and for insertion of supplemental sheets into the opened article



w. REIST 3,527,455 APPARATUS FOR OPENING MULTIPLE SHEET PAPER ARTICLES AND Sept. 8, 1970 FOR INSERTION OF SUPPLEMENTAL SHEETS INTO THE OPENED ARTICLE Filed June 1, 1967 15 Sheets-Sheet 1 Sept. 8, 1970 w. REIST 3, APPARATUS FOR OPENING MULTIPLE SHEET PAPER ARTICLES AND FOR INSERTIQN OF SUPPLEMENTAL SHEETS INTO THE OPENED ARTICLE 15 SheetsSheet 2 Filed June 1. 1967 Fig. 1b

Sept. 8, 1970 w. REIST 3,527,455

APPARATUS FOR OPENING MULTIPLE SHEET PAPER ARTICLES AND FOR INSERTION OF SUPPLEMENTAL SHEETS INTO THE*OPENED ARTICLE File-3d June 1, 1967 15 Sheets-Sheet 5 Sept. 8, 1970 w. REIST 3,527,455

APPARATUS FOR OPENING MULTIPLE SHEET PAPER ARTICLES AND FOR INSERTION OE SUPPLEMENTAL SHEETS INTO THE OPENED ARTICLE Film! June 1, 1967 15 Sheets-Sheet 4 p 1970 w. REIST APPARATUS FOR OPENING MULTIPLE SHEET PAPER ARTICLES AND FOR INSEHTION OF SUPPLEMENTAL SHEETS INTD THE OPENED ARTICLE Filed June 1, 1967 15 Sheets-Sheet 5 Sept. 8, 1970 w. REIST APPARATUS FOR OPENING MULTIPLE SHEET PAPER ARTICLES AND FOR INSERTION OF SUPPLEMENTAL SHEETS INTO THE OPENED ARTICLE 15 Sheets-Sheet 6 Film-l June 1, 1967 Sept. 8, 1970 w, RE|sT 3,527,455

APPARATUS FOR OPENING MULTIPLE SHEET PAPER ARTICLES AND FOR INSERTION OP SUPPLEMENTAL SHEETS INTO THE OPENED ARTICLE Filed June 1. 1967 15 Sheets-Sheet 7 Sept. 8, 1970 w. REIST 3,527,455

APPARATUS FOR OPENING MULTIPLE SHEET PAPER ARTICLES AND FOR INSERTION OF SUPPLEMENTAL SHEETS INTO THE OPENED ARTICLE Filed June 1, 1967 15 SheetsSheet 8 sflpt. 8, 1970 w, RE|ST 3,527,455

APPARATUS FOR OPENING MULTIPLE SHEET PAPER ARTICLES AND FOR INSERTION OF SUPPLEMENTAL SHEETS INTO THE OPENED ARTICLE Filed June 1. 1967 15 Sheets-Sheet 9 I"ZL v n n I I f I $3 724 7 A 119 I 113 122 778- 86 84 2 & 90 1| :2 8O W 725 85 M 7 s 6 4 Q) 705 A05 86 1 7 7 87 e1 0 I 97 -97 '10s 95 W T I 100 'r 92 mi 74 66 88 64 78 7 109 75 79 .0 H" Fig. 10

Sept. 8, 1970 w. REIST 3,527,455

APPARATUS FOR OPENING MULTIPLE SHEET PAPER ARTICLES AND FOR INSERTION OF SUPPLEMENTAL SHEETS INTO THE OPENED ARTICLE Filed June 1, 1967 15 Sheets-Sheet 1O Sept. 8, 1970 w 5151- 3,527,455

APPARATUS FOR OPENING MULTIPLE SHEET PAPER ARTICLES AND FOR INSERTION OF SUPPLEMENTAL SHEETS INTO THE OPENED ARTICLE FilBd June 1. 1967 15 Sheets-Sheet ll Q7 74 74 m 103 m 75 10 a 5 f! Q i 2 ur -M "Wag: T io 52; 2;, E Ea/A s\\\\\\\\\\\w?s's m g! I In Q9 I 104 O5 10? e5 Sept. 8, 1970 w, 5151- 3,527,455

APPARATUS FOR OPENING MULTIPLE SHEET PAPER ARTICLES AND FOR INSERTION OF SUPPLEMENTAL SHEETS INTO THE OPENED ARTICLE Filed June 1, 1967 15 Sheets-Sheet 12 Sept. 8, 1970 w, 5151- 3,527,455

APPARATUS FOR OPENING MULTIPLE SHEET PAPER ARTICLES AND FOR INSERTION 0F SUPPLEMENTAL SHEETS INTO THE OPENED ARTICLE ;0 0 00 omo OM 0 Q 3,527,455 PER ARTICLES AND SUPPLEMENTAL SHEETS PENED ARTICLE Sept. 8, 1970 w. REIST APPARATUS FOR OPENING MULTIPLE SHEET PA FOR INS TION OF I THE 0 Filed June 1, 1967 15 Sheets-Sheet l4 REI 3,527,455

PER ARTICLES AND SHEETS Sept. 8, 1970 w. ENING MULT E F PA AL ST APPARATUS FOR OP I LE SHE FOR INS RTION O PLEM INTO THE OPENED ARTICLE 15 Sheets-Sheet 15 Filed June 1. 1967 Patented Sept. 8, 1970 Int. ci. B65h 5/30 US. Cl. 270-55 14 Claims ABSTRACT 0F THE DISCLOSURE An apparatus for opening multiple sheet paper articles, such as folded newspapers, stitched or bound booklets, prospectus, catalogues and like articles, and for insertion of supplemental sheets into the opened article comprises a series of gripper units attached at equally spaced intervals to a pair of endless travelling conveyor chains, said gripper units comprising two pairs of grippers each having a movable jaw coacting with a fixed jaw which is common to both pairs of grippers, one of said movable jaws being movable in a direction at right angles to the gripping surface of the fixed jaw and in a direction transverse to this gripping surface, whereby said movable jaw upon moving transversely of the gripping surface of the fixed jaw clamps a marginal portion of the multiple sheet paper article to be opened, and upon moving parallel to the gripping surface of the fixed jaw displaces a portion of the clamped sheets of the multiple sheet paper article at a location at which previously the friction between two adjacent sheets had been reduced, said other movable jaw then acting as separator to open the article between the sheets of the displaced and the not displaced portion of the article, means being provided to insert the supplemental sheet into the opened article. The operations of opening the multiple sheet paper article and of insertion of the supplemental sheets being effected during the travelling movement of said gripper units with the conveyor chains, said movable jaws being controlled by stationary cam bars associated with the conveyor.

This invention relates to apparatus for opening multiple sheet paper articles at predetermined locations and for inserting supplemental sheets into the opened article.

This apparatus can be used to practice the method of separating at predetermined locations a plurality of flat articles at least partly lying one on the other so as to form a stack, as described in copending application Ser. No. 586,376, now Pat. No. 3,392,856.

According to said method the static friction between opposed surfaces of two adjacent flat articles at the location at which it is desired to separate the stack is reduced, and a force having a component in the plane of the fiat articles is applied to the articles located at one side of side location, whereby the stack is separated at this location.

The paper articles which are intended to be processed in the apparatus according to the present invention may be formed particularly by printed matter, such as folded newspapers, stitched or bound booklets, prospectus and catalogues, tabloids glued along one side, and like articles.

When processing large numbers of said paper articles, it may he often desired to open them at a predetermined page, or in the case of folded newspapers, in the middle between the folded halves in order to insert a supplemental sheet or sheets into the opened article.

With newspapers, particularly daily newspapers, this problem is vqy frequent. Also with other articles this problem appears often, for example booklets are to be provided with loose leafs, e.g. such as a blotting paper, catalogues with order sheets, periodicals with supplemental sheets, etc.

For adding such supplemental sheets, it could be proceeded by leaving the produced article in open condition and folding or closing it only after insertion of the supplemental sheet. In many cases such a procedure cannot be used because a decision as to the location of the supplemental sheet in the article, or as to whether or not a supplemental sheet has to be inserted will often be made at a later time when the article is already finished.

It is also known to open the finished article by means of a special device and then to insert the supplemental sheet into the opened article. The location of the insertion of supplemental sheets has been determined by measuring the thickness or by counting the pages and introducing a separating member at the desired location, or the article has been moved against a stop member and the deformation of the article upon a sudden stop or the resulting exposure of locations not accessible with the closed article has been used for insertion of a separating member.

Such known procedures have the inconvenience that the opening will not occur always at exactly the same place (upon measuring the thickness), that the working speed is limited, or that the location of the opening cannot be determined at will (upon impacting the article against a stop). These known procedures also require extensive and precise adjusting operations for each type of articles to be processed.

It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide apparatus for opening multiple sheet paper articles and introducing supplemental sheets into the opened articles which avoids the mentioned drawbacks.

The apparatus according to the invention comprises a gripping member adapted to grip a marginal portion of the article, said gripper member having two coacting jaws, provided with gripping surfaces, one of said jaws being movable with respect to the other jaw in a direction transverse to the gripping surface of said other jaw in a direction parallel to the gripping surface of said other jaw to open said paper article at said predetermined location, and a feeding device for the supplemental sheets to be inserted.

During operation of the apparatus, the gripper first grips a marginal portion of the article and upon a parallel movement of the movable gripper jaw relative to the counter jaw the article opens at the predetermined location at which previously the friction between the sheets has been reduced. When the article is an ordinary pile of sheets, the gripper can grip a marginal portion at any side of the pile. When, however, the article is a printed matter of the kind referred to before, the gripper will be arranged so as to grip a marginal portion of the article which is opposite the fold or the bound back of the article.

The gripper will be movably arranged between a receiving station and a delivery station for the article. This arrangement enables an almost continuous operation when the receiving and delivery stations are stationary.

In order to retain one of the portions of the article which upon opening will be separated in two portions, a second gripper is provided. This gripper is provided with a wedge-shaped jaw, so that upon release of the portion of the article gripped by the first jaw, the separated portion of the article cannot close again but will slide on the back of this jaw of the second gripper and remain in open separated position. Conveniently, both grippers will have a common counter jaw.

A receiving station for the supplemental sheets to be inserted into the opened article is arranged between the receiving and delivery stations of the article. The first and 3 the second gripper preferably are mounted as a gripper unit on an endless travelling conveyer device. Several gripper units may be associated with the conveyer device, so that practically no time will be lost for the return movement of the gripper from the delivery station to the receiving station.

The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings illustrating a preferred embodiment of the apparatus.

FIGS. 1a and 1b are a diagrammatic longitudinal section through an apparatus having five first and second grippers, arranged at an endless travelling conveyer and subdividing this latter into similar sections.

FIGS. 2a and 2b are a view in elevation in the direction of the arrow 2 in FIG. 1b, certain parts being omitted for the sake of clearness.

FIGS. 3 to 8 are fragmentary sectional views showing the grippers in different positions of operation.

FIGS. 9a and 9b are a view in elevation of the apparatus as seen in the direction of the arrow 9 in FIG. 1a, illustrating the arrangement of the grippers and of abutment means associated with the conveyer.

FIG. 10 is a section along the line 1010 of FIG. 9a.

FIGS. 11a and 11b are a section along the line 1111 of FIG. 10.

FIGS. 12a and 12b are views in elevation seen in the direction of the arrow 12 in FIG. 10.

FIGS. 13a and 13b are views in elevation seen in the direction of the arrow 13 in FIG. 10.

FIG. 14 is a section along the line 14-14 of FIGS. 9a, 9b.

FIGS. 15a and 15b, drawn to a larger scale, are a fragmentary section of an auxiliary device shown diagrammatically only in FIG. 1a.

FIGS. 16 and 17 show in perspective view a practical embodiment of the apparatus in a front view and a back view, respectively, the endless travelling conveyers and grippers being not shown in detail.

Referring to FIGS. 1a, 1b, and 2a, 2b, the apparatus generally indicated with '20 comprises two vertical supports 21 and 22 supported on the floor 24 by angle members 23.

Lower and upper chain wheel shafts 25 and 2 6 are rotatably mounted to extend between and beyond the two supports 21 and 22. A pair of spaced chain wheels 27 is keyed to the lower shaft 25, and a pair of similar and equally spaced chain wheels 28 is keyed to the upper shaft 26. The chain wheels 27 and 28 of the upper and lower shafts are connected with each other by endless link chains 22 and 30, respectively. One of the shafts 25 or 26 is connected to a drive, not shown, both chains travelling at the same speed in the direction of the arrow A (FIG. 1b). The links of the two chains 29, 30 are connected to each other by transversely extending slats 31 and 32, thus forming a flexible conveyer band resembling a curtain or shutter which is subdivided by gripper units 33 and movable abutment rakes 34 in fiive similar sections 35, 36, 37, 38 and 39. As it is visible, for example in FIG. la for the sections or 39, all sections comprise a series of slats 31 and a series of slats 32, the cross-sectional shape or profile of the slats of the two series differing, so that each section is divided in two conveyer surfaces which are differently spaced from the chain links of the chains 29 and 30, the leading conveyer surface of each section being closer to the chain links, and the trailing surface of each section being at a greater distance from the chain links.

A receiving station 41 for the articles Z is arranged on the right side of the conveyer in FIG. 1b and a delivery station 42 for the article provided with the supplementary sheet is arranged on the same side near the top of the conveyer in FIG. 10. At the left side of the conveyer in FIG. lb two receiving stations 43 and 44 are provided for the supplementary sheets B and B The gripping units 33 are provided for conveying the articles Z, for opening them and delivering them during the various phases of operation. These gripping units are controlled by a number of cam bars 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51 and 52. These cam bars are fixed between the two strands of the conveyer chains to cross arms 52a, 53, 54 and 55 which are secured at both ends to the supports 21 and 22. The cam bars 45, 49, and 46, 50 are associated with one gripper of the gripper units 33, the cam bars 48 and 51 are associated with the second gripper of the gripper units, and the cam bars 47 and 52 are associated with the pivotable abutment rake 34. The cam surfaces of the cam bars extend each in a plane at right angles to the chain wheel shafts 25 and 26. A portion of the conveyer band is covered at the outside by guide straps 56, 57 and 58, the purpose of which will be described later.

On the left side of the conveyer in FIG. 1a, an auxiliary device is designated by 59, which is operative for insertion of the supplementary sheets. This auxiliary device comprises two endless conveyers 60 and 61 which travel in the same direction and at the same speed as the conveyer chains 29 and 30 and partly in contact with the conveyer band sections carried by these chains. The conveyer 60 carries two clamping devices 62 and the conveyer 61 is provided with three conveyer band sections 63 made up of slats like a shutter. It will be seen that the disposition of the clamping devices 62 on the conveyer 60, i.e. the division of this conveyer by the devices 62 is the same as the division of the conveyer 61 by the conveyer band sections 63, and this division is again the same as that of the gripper units 33 on the conveyer 29, 30. Since the conveyer bands of the conveyers 60 and 61 travel at the same speed and in the same direction as the conveyer band of the chains 29 and 30, the clamping devices 62 and the conveyer band sections 63 always have the same relative position with respect to the gripper units 33 and to the conveyer band sections 35, 36, 37, 38 and 39, along the range of travelling of the three conveyer bands in close proximity with each other.

The construction of the gripping units 33 and of the pivoting abutment rakes 34 will now be described by ref erence to FIGS. 9a, 9b, 10, 11, 12a, 12b, 13a, 13b and 14. The gripper unit 33 (FIGS. 9a and 9b) is mounted on a tubular cross bar 64 having both ends engaged in a truck 65 supported each by two rotatable rolls 66 and 67 travelling along rails 68 and 69, respectively. These rails are parallel and extend in close proximity to the straight strands of the conveyer chains 29 and 30. Each of the trucks 65 is provided with a bore 70 and 71, respectively (FIGS. 11a and 11b) into which engages a driver pin 72 and 73, respectively, these pins being secured to a side bar of the links of the chains 29 and 30. This ensures that the crossbar 64 moves together with the chains and is retained against rotation about its longitudinal axis.

Three longitudinally spaced brackets are fixed by means of screws 74 to the tubular cross bar 64. Each bracket 75 carries two grippers of the gripper unit 33. The two grippers each comprise a movable jaw 76 and 77, respectively, and a common fixed jaw 78 formed as a supporting surface projecting from the brackets 75 in the direction towards the curtain-shaped conveyer band and covered with a friction promoting coating 79 (FIG. 10), such as rubber.

When now the gripper having the jaw 76 is considered, it is seen in FIG. 10 that this jaw is formed at one end of a two-arm lever 80 and its gripping surface also is covered with a friction promoting coating 81. The lever 80 is pivoted at 82 and its other end at '83 it is pivotally connected to one end of a link 84 having its other end articulated at 85 to an angle lever 87 pivotally mounted at 86. The other end of the lever 87 carries a roll 88 which coacts with the cam bars 46 and 50. It follows from FIG. 1312 that the articulated drive system formed by lever 80, link 84, and angle lever 87 is biased by a pair of springs 89 so that the roll 88 when mounting on the associated cam bar, can only be moved against the action of the springs 89, i.e. the jaw 76 is biased into closing position when the roll 88 is not acted upon by a cam bar.

It also follows from FIG. that the hinge axis 82 of the lever is arranged on the end of a one-armed curved lever also pivotally mounted at 86 on the bracket 75.

This lever 90 is provided with a toothed segment 91 on its hub surrounding the pivot pin 86, this segment 91 meshing with a toothed segment 92 on the hub of a lever 94 pivotally mounted at 93. The lever 94 carries a roll 95 coacting with the cam bars 45 and 49. This second drive formed by the jaw 76, the lever 90 and lever 94 also is biased by a spring 96, so that the jaw 76 normally, i.e. with the roll 95 not acted upon by the cam bars, is in its most advanced position with respect to the direction of travel A and will be moved backwardly in response to the movement of the roll 95 against the action of the spring 96.

It follows therefrom that the jaw 76 will be separated from its counter jaw 78 when the roll 88 is mounting on a corresponding cam bar, and at the same time will be moved in a direction parallel to the counter jaw when the roll 95 is mounting on a corresponding cam bar, these two movements being controlled independently one from the other by separate cam bars. Accordingly it is possible by a suitable shaping of the cam bars, to move the jaw 76 towards or away from the counter jaw 78 and during this closing or opening movement or during maintenance of the jaw 76 in one of its end positions, to move this jaw additionally along the counter jaw 78 parallel to the surface of this jaw.

It is seen from FIGS. 9a, 9b, 10 and 14 that each bracket 75 carries a further gripper having a beakshaped, curved movable jaw 77 pivotally mounted at 97. The pivot pin 97 is fixed to the bracket 75. The jaw 77 is provided with a toothed segment 98 at its end opposite the gripping surface (FIG. 14) which penetrates into the interior of the tubular cross bar 64 through a slot (not represented) in the wall thereof in order to mesh with a pinion 99 (FIG. 11a). The pinions 99 of all gripping units are mounted on an intermediate shaft 100 within the tubular bar 64. This shaft is mounted at both ends in bearing sleeves 101 which are fixed by threaded pins 102 to the trucks 65. The pinions 99 are rotatable on the shaft 100 and connected to the shaft by torsion springs 103 which are fixed by one end to the shaft 100 by the intermediary of a tensioning ring 104, and by the other end to the pinions 99. Thus, a flexible coupling is formed which yields in both directions of rotation, and it is obvious that not represented means are provided to prevent the pinions from axially sliding on the shaft and from excessive twisting relatively to the shaft 100.

A further pinion 105 is fixed by means of a pin 106 to the shaft 100 (FIGS. 11b and 14). This pinion meshes with a toothed segment 106a which is fixed to a pivoting lever 108 turning on a pin 107. The lever 108 carries a roll 109 adapted to coact with the cam bars 48 and 51 (FIGS. 2a and 2b). The pivoting lever 108 moves against the action of return springs 110 in such manner, that the jaws 77 are in closing position when the lever 108 is not actuated by a cam bar. When the roll 109 is mounting on one of the cam bars 48 or 51, the jaws 77 open, and when the cam bars release the roll 109, the jaws close, these latter being still able to pivot out of the position as determined by the roll 109 owing to the flexible coupling with the shaft 100, by overcoming the spring force of the springs 103.

The shape of the jaws 77 is visible from FIGS. 10 and 14. This shape is that of a curved wedge tapering towards the gripping end and has been chosen for the reason that the jaw has two functions. The first function is that of gripping the portion of the article between the gripping jaws 76. The second function is performed by 6 the curved back of the jaw 77 which corresponds to a wedge-shaped supporting surface as will be described later.

Immediately ahead of the gripper units 33, with respect to their direction of travel, the pivotable abutment rake 34 is arranged which now will be described with reference to FIGS. 11a, 11b and 12a, 1212. A non-rotatable shaft 113 extends between the chains 29 and 30 at a place situated a few chain links ahead of the gripper units 33. The shaft 113 has its ends engaged in a truck 112 by means of threaded pins 114. A driver pin 111 connects the truck with the conveyer chain. The pin 111 and truck 112 correspond to the driven pin 73 and truck 65 of the gripper units 33, so that no further description of them is necessary.

A sleeve 117 is carried by bearing bushings on the shaft 113 and extends over the whole length of the shaft. The bushings 115 are retained against axial displacement by spring washers 116. A pinion 118 is keyed to one end of the sleeve 117 and a plurality of longitudinally spaced clamping rings 119 are fixed to the sleeve and carry each an abutment pin 120 projecting in tangential direction therefrom. These abutment pins 120 of one shaft 113 form an abutment rake which can pivot together with the sleeve 117 towards the plane of the travelling conveyer band and out of this plane. The rotation of the sleeve 117 is effected by the pinion 118. This pinion meshes with a gear 121 (FIGS 12a and 14) mounted on a journal pin 123 on a bracket 124 of the truck 112. A lever 122 turning with the gear 121 carries a roll 125. This roll is adapted to coact with the cam bars 47 (FIG. 1b) and 52 (FIG. la). The pivoting movement of the lever 122 is effected against the action of a spring 126 wound with clearance around the pin 123, in such manner that when the lever 122 is not actuated by a cam bar, the abutment pins 120 project at right angles to the plane of the conveyer band.

The auxiliary device 59 shall now be described with reference to FIGS. 15a and 15b. The upper portion of the conveyer formed by the chains 29 and 30 of FIGS. 1a and 1b appears at the right side of FIGS. 15a and 15b. FIG. 15b also shows a gripping unit 33 with the gripping jaws 76 and 77, and the abutment rake 34 is in the inwardly swung position. As already mentioned, the auxiliary device 59 comprises two pairs of conveyor chains 60 and 61 travelling at the same speed and in the same direction according to the arrow A, the first pair comprising two clamping devices 62 and the second pair being provided with three conveyer band sections 63. The chains of each pair of conveyer chains pass over chain wheels which are arranged at a distance from each other corresponding approximately to the width of the apparatus. The pair of chains 60 passes over chain wheel pairs 130, 131, 132, 141 and 142 mounted on journal pins 133, 134, 135, 145 and 144. The pair of chains 61 passes over wheel pairs 136 (behind wheel 137 and 138 on journal pins 133, 139 and 140. The total length of the pair of con veyer chains 61 is one and one half times the total length of the chain wheel pair 60, so that as represented, the travelling path of the chains 60 is situated within that of the chains 61, the two travelling paths being tangent at two points, namely in the range of the chain wheels 130 and 136 on the journal pin 133, and in the range of the chain wheels 131 on the pin 134.

Obviously, the planes in which move the chains of the two chain pairs 60 and 61 are displaced with respect to each other, the two chains 60 moving in planes immediately inside of the two planes in which move the chains 61.

The clamping devices 62 of the chains 60 comprises at least one pair of clamping tongs 146 mounted on a rod 147 connecting the two chains of the pair 60 and moving with the chains. The fixed tong 148 of the pair of clamping tongs 146 is rigididly carried by the rod 147, while the movable tong 149 is formed as a two-armed lever pivota-lly mounted on the rod 147 and held in clamping position by means of the action of a spring (not shown). One arm of the lever is curved to form the clamping tong and the other arm 150 carries a roll 151. This roll is adapted to coact with stationary cams 152 and 153, the first one being arranged in proximity to the journal pin 133, and the second one in proximity to the journal pin 134. When the roll 151 is mounting on these cams, the lever arm 150 is turned in counter-counter-clockwise direction and the clamping tongs are opened. In FIG. b the clamping device 62 on the right hand strand of the chain 60 is shown in open, operative position and is holding a separated portion of an article Z. The other portion of this article is held by the jaw 77 of the gropper unit 33 which moves upwardly at the same speed as the clamping device 62. The other clamping device 62 shown on the left side of FIG. 15b moves downwardly in inoperative position.

The pair of conveyer chains 61 comprises three similar conveyer band sections 63. These sections are formed by a number of, e.g. eight slats 154 in the represented example, which interconnect two opposite chain links of the two chains 61. These slats extend transversely to the direction of movement of the chains and at a certain from the chain links of the chain 61, so that they pass outside of the links of the chains 60 without obstructing them. The slats are profiled in transverse section ,(not shown) to provided for unobstructed movement of the slats in the zone of the guides 58 (FIG. 1a) situated at the upper portion of the conveyer.

As already mentioned, the division of the pair of conveyer chains 61 by the three conveyer band sections 63 is the same as the division of the conveyer bands of the chains 29 and 30 of the main conveyer by the gripper units 33. The chain pairs and 61 are travelling in such relative relation about their chain wheels that always one clamping device will be situated between two conveyor band sections 63 and that the slats 154 of these sections always arrive in close proximity to the slats 32 of the conveyer band sections 35 to 39. In this manner, when all the con-veyers operate, a narrow chamber will be formed between the slats 32 and the slats 154 (FIG. 1a), which chamber is limited at its bottom by the abutment pins 120 of the abutment rake 34. The supplemental sheets B and B are transported upwardly in this chamber in substantially understrained condition, but without any possible bending, folding or buckling, until the abutments pins 120 of the rake 34 are pivoted downwardly, thus removing the bottom of the sheets in the chamber, whereby the sheets B and B directly fall into the opened article Z immediately following behind these sheets and held in opened position by the jaw 77 and the clamping device 62 (FIG. 15b).

The operation of the gripper arrangement 33 will now be described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 8, in which only the necessary reference numerals for understanding the function are repeated. In FIG. 3 the gripper arrange ment is shown in its position of rest, that is the position which it has before it reaches the receiving station 41 for the article. In this position, the jaw 76 is in its closing position, the jaw 77 is also in closing position and the associated rolls 88, and are released, but their moving up on the corresponding cam bars 45, 46 and 47 is imminent. In FIG. 4 the three mentioned rolls have mounted on the cam bars. The result is that the jaw 76 has been opened and pushed rearwardly with respect to the travelling direction, and the jaw 77 has been fully opened. In the meantime an article Z has been fed from the receiving station which is now supported on an abutting surface 78a of the fixed jaw and travels downwardly with the gripper arrangement 33. Immediately afterwards the rolls 88 and 109 arrive at the end of their corresponding cam bars, but the roll '95 remains on its associated cam surface as is represented in FIG. 5. The result is that the jaw 77 and also the jaw 76 grip the ar i Z over its whole thickness at the edge supported on the abutment 78a. It will be recognized that the jaw 76 is still in its partly retracted position, since the roll 95 is still engaged by the associated cam bar. In this position the article Z passes about the lower conveyer chain wheels 29, 30, the trailing end of the article being bent by the guides 56 as shown in FIG. 6. This bending of the article is significant because the following operation is rendered possible by this preparatory bending deformation of the article. As will be seen in FIG. 6, the roll 95 which controls the sliding motion of the jaw 76 starts to mount on the cam bar 49. The active cam surface of this bar is tapering in such manner that the jaw 76 will gradually retract upon further movement of the gripping arrangement in the direction of the arrow A. In the meantime, the jaw 77 is again in its open position, so that the article Z is only clamped between the jaws 76 and it counter surface 78. In FIG. 7 the gripper unit is represented shortly before it arrives at the end of the cam bar 49. The jaw 76 in the meantime has arrived in its most retracted closing position and this movement of the jaw has been communicated to the portion of the article Z which makes contact with the jaw. This portion of the article accordingly has separated from the remaining portion at the place which has previously been predetermined by a reduction of friction. Since at the trailing end of the article the two portions are held together owing to the article being folded or the sheets thereof stitched or bound together at the trailing edge, the separation of the portions at the leading edge results in a bulging of the portion being separated, as is indicated by dash-and-dot lines in FIG. 7, while the other portion owing to its frictional engagement with the counter surface 79 remains in its position and is clamped by the jaw 77 which has been closed again in the meantime.

The jaw 76 has now performed its function and is opened again and moved forwardly out of contact with the article (FIG. 8 The two separated portions of the article Z cannot join again. The separated left hand portion of the article in FIGS. 7 and 8, owing to its elasticity, slides upon the back of the Wedge-shaped jaw 77 when it is released by the jaw 76 and remains in this position until it is gripped by the clamping device 62 of the conveyer chains '60.

Now, as already mentioned, the supplemental sheets B and B resting on the abutment rake 34 can be released by pivoting the rake 34 and pins inwardly towards the chain, so that they may freely fall into the opened article Z (FIG. 15b) and then travel together with the article. Close to the upper turn of the travelling path, as shown in FIGS. 1a and 15a, the clamping device 62 again approaches the travelling path of the main conveyer and closes the separated portions of the article now constituting the finished product ZB, whereafter the jaw 77 opens shortly before reaching the upper turn of the conveyer and releases the finished product ZB. At that mo ment, the product ZB has not yet passed the upper turning point and accordingly falls backwards along the upwardly moving strand of the conveyer band until it abuts against abutment pins 34a (FIG. 1a) which are secured to the last slat 31 of the corresponding conveyer band section. The finished product receives a shock when stopped in its fall on the pins 34a, which acts to com pletely push the inserted supplemental sheets into the folded product. This latter is now pushed over the upper turn of the conveyer by the abutments 34a, Where it is discharged at the delivery station 42 on an inclined table for further transportation to its place of destination.

It will be understood that the total length of the chains 29 and 30 and of the pairs of chains 60 and 61, as well as the division of the chains by the various devices fixed to them will depend on the largest size of the articles to be processed and of the supplemental sheets, and on the available space conditions. The described apparatus can be readily adapted according to requirements without departing from the scope of the appended claims. When the articles to be processed have sufiicient stiffness and are bound along their back, the use of the auxiliary device 59 is not required, it could be replaced by simple guide rails.

The apparatus according to the invention can also be placed in such position that the two strands of the conveyer chains are not vertical, if sufiicient floor space is available. The strands of the conveyer chains 29 and 30 may travel in horizontal direction, with the receiving and delivery stations arranged on the upper and/or on the lower strand.

It is also possible to provide circular travelling paths for the conveyer chains 29 and 30 and to actuate the gripping arrangements from the center of the travelling path by means of cum discs.

The gripping arrangement 33 can be stationary, in which case the illustrated receiving and delivery stations will be replaced by a feeding and a discharging device guiding the article between the jaws of the grippers 76, 78.

The gripping unit 33 can also be constructed to move to-and-fro between a stationary receiving station and a stationary delivery station. Such an arrangement, however, has the inconvenience that time is lost after delivery of the finished product for effecting the return movement of the gripper arrangement to the receiving station.

FIGS. 16 and 17 show a front view and a back view of a modification in which the operation as to the opening of the article Z and the insertion of the supplemental sheets is fundamentally the same as that described with reference to FIGS. l-15.

The difference between the first described example and the construction according to FIGS. 16 and 17 substantially resides in the arrangement and number of receiving stations for the article Z and the supplemental sheets B in the guiding of the conveyer band of the main and auxiliary conveyers, and in the arrangement of the delivery station for the article provided with the supplemental insertion.

As seen in FIGS. 16 and 17, the apparatus comprises two pairs of opposite box-shaped supports 200, 201 and 202, 203 which are placed adjacent each other in upright position on a mobile base 204 mounted on rollers 205. The supports 200 and 201 contain the chain wheels, bearings and chains of a conveyer band 207 corresponding to the conveyer band 35, 36, 37, 38 and 39 of FIGS. 1a and 1b. The supports 202 and 204 contain the chain wheels, hearings and chains of an auxiliary device 208 corresponding to the auxiliary device 59 in FIG. 1a.

The conveyer band 207 and the auxiliary device 208 are represented as simple bands for the sake of simplicity, but they also are made up of sections having slats as described in detail with reference to the first example, and of grippers and clamping devices for the article provided between the sections.

The conveyer members for the supplemental sheets to be inserted into the article, which have been formed by rakes 34 in the first example, are now formed as grippers associated with the chain 208a of the auxiliary device 208. This is for the reason to more effectively utilise the floor space and to make use of the return movement of the auxiliary device. The conveyer band 207 and the auxiliary device 208 are driven by a common drive arranged in a gear box 206 in such manner that the two adjacent strands of the conveyer bands 207 and 208 are travelling upwardly at the same speed.

The receiving stations for the article and for the supplemental insertions are here formed as sheet separating devices 209 (for the article) and 210, 211, 212 (for the insertions). It shall be mentioned only that the separating devices 209, 210, 211, 212 each separate the lowermost sheet of an inclined pile of sheets and pull it off the pile in upwardly inclined direction. The separated sheets, as shown in FIG. 17, pass over a deflection member to adapt them to the travelling direction of the outer strands of the conveyers 207 and 208. Then, the articles or copies fed to the conveyer bands are first moved downwardly, and pass around the lower turn of the conveyers, whereafter the opening, clamping and insertion operations are effected as described before, in the adjacent upwardly moving strands of the conveyers 207 and 208.

The finished product BZ in which the supplemental sheets have been inserted arrives at the upper turn of the conveyer 207 where it is discharged tangentially into the delivery station 213 formed as a conveyer which discharges the articles laterally out of the apparatus.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for inserting supplemental sheets into a multiple sheet paper article, such as a newspaper, at a location determined by reduction of the friction between two adjacent sheets of the article prior to or during formation of the article, said apparatus comprising carrier means defining an endless path, a pair of grippers coupled to said carrier means, each gripper having opened and closed positions, the first of said grippers including two jaws and means for moving one jaw relative to the other jaw in a direction towards the end thereof, when said first gripper is closed, article feed means positioned adjacent said path for feeding an article into said first gripper when the same passes the feed means, control means for opening the grippers before said grippers reach said feed means and successively for closing said first gripper to grip a free overlying edge of the article, for moving the said one jaw of the first gripper relative to the said other jaw thereof to separate the article into two portions, for closing the second gripper to grip only one of the said portions and for re-opening the first gripper after the pair of grippers has passed the said feed means, guide means positioned adjacent said path at a region where the first gripper is re-opened for guiding the portion of the article released by the first gripper and which is the portion not gripped by the second gripper, supplementary feeding means for successively feeding the supplemental sheets between the guide means and said path, a means for synchronizing the operation of the supplementary feeding means with the passage of the pair of grippers.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which the second gripper includes a fixed and a movable jaw, the movable jaw having a wedge-like back surface opposite its gripping surface, onto which back surface moves the separated portion of the article after having been released from the first gripper.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2 in which the grippers have a common fixed jaw coacting with the movable jaws of both grippers, the gripping surface of the common fixed jaw being greater than the gripping surface of the movable jaw of either gripper.

4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 comprising a twoarm level and in which the movable jaw of the first gripper is arranged at one end of said two-armed lever, the pivotal axis of the lever being movable at least approximately in a direction parallel to the gripping surface of the jaw.

5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 4 comprising a pivoting lever and in which the pivotal axis of the two-armed lever is arranged at the free end of said pivoting lever which has its axis stationary with respect to the first gripper.

6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 5 in which the twoarmed lever and the pivoting lever are movable independently of each other.

7. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which the carrier means comprises an endless two-strand conveyor band, a pair of endless link chains guiding the band along its lateral edges, and a plurality of pairs of grippers, the length of the conveyor band being divided into similar sections by said pairs of grippers.

8. Apparatus as claimed in claim 7 in which the two strands of the conveyor band move upwardly and down- 

